Thorns in Your Paw
by blackdragon333
Summary: Akamaru is Kiba's best friend and most precious possession all in one, right? So of course, if he was hurt or lost, Kiba would be indebted to whoever found or healed him. So...what if it was a girl? And what if she liked Kiba? Oneshot.


Ok guys, so here's the deal. I wrote this a freakin long tiher ago, like three years ago, when I was twelve and laher. So I edited it up, and it's kinda cool now haha. Yeah, so here it is!

Oh, by the way, this is a oneshot now, so I'll just say that this girl is a ninja in the year behind Kiba. She was supposed to be the non-existant tenth ninja of the rookie nine...but that's too long for a oneshot haha

Enjoy!

Michiko sighed happily in the warm sun. She was wandering along the road through the park, and she definitely was in no hurry. "Such a peaceful day..." She said aloud, smiling.

A rustle in soher thornbushes surprised her out of her reverie, and then she heard a whimpering cry. Going over to inspect them, she saw soher white fur in the middle of the branches. She protected herhands with chakra to push aside the brambles. I reached in and, instead of a rabbit, pulled out a small white dog.

Whining gratefully, he licked her hands and lay still, limp in her arms. She looked down, puzzled as to why he was so weak, and started to check him over. Finding only small wounds, she put him down to walk around.

He whined, and she noticed a limp. Picking him up again, she looked at the leg he was limping around on. She found a large thorn embedded in the pad of his paw.

"Damn, that must hurt. Hold on a second, little guy, I'll get it out." She took him over to a bench and sat down, getting her canteen, soher salve, bandages, and a rag from her backpack. She wetted the rag, extracted the thorn, and pressed the rag to his paw. Finally, she wrapped it in bandages and began to treat the smaller wounds.

Once they were treated, she smiled. "There you go, buddy, all better!" She put him down, and he wagged his tail happily. She watched him, puzzled. "I know I've seen you before...where was it?..." Not coming to an answer, she shrugged, put away her supplies, and picked him up. "Let's go find your owner."

He barked affirmatively.

She wandered aimlessly around Konoha, asking around to see if people had lost a dog. She was having no luck, and then Kiba rounded the corner, running, and literally ran into her.

"Sorry. Have you lost/found a dog?" They said at the same time as he helped her up.

"This yours?" I held out the white dog.

"Akamaru!" Kiba reached out to take Akamaru from her and accidentally touched his wounded paw. Akamaru yelped and snuggled closer to her.

She felt empathetically bad at the betrayed look on Kiba's face. "It's nothing you did, Kiba. He's wounded. He had a really big thorn in his paw."

"Had?"

"Yeah. I took it out, though, just a few minutes ago." Michi handed Akamaru carefully to Kiba. "You know, I didn't even recognize Akamaru without you with him!"

"Thank you, Michi-chan. You healed him?"

She nodded with a smile.

"Then you have my gratitude."

She blushed. "I didn't do it for thanks, Kiba, I did it because Akamaru was wounded. There's no need to thank me."

"But, you saved Akamaru. That's like saving me. Akamaru is like an extention of my soul, Michiko, and whatever you do for him, you do for me."

"Oh. Well, ok, Kiba. But here, take this. It's for Akamaru's wounds. It should help him heal quickly." Michi handed him the salve.

"Thank you, Michi. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't found him."

Michi smiled. "No problem, Kiba. I love Akamaru! He's the best dog ever."

She patted Akamaru's head, and he barked. "_Well, we _both _love you!_"

Kiba blushed, snorted, and looked off to the side, and Michi looked up, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

He looked back at her apologetically. "No, no, it's what Akamaru said. It has nothing to do with you."

"Oh. Ok then. Hey, listen, can I see Akamaru for a second? I forgot to check his stomach for wounds."

"Sure."

She led them both to a bench, and they all sat down. Kiba handed Akamaru to her, and she sat him in her lap, pulled out and wetted the rag, and asked him, in Dogspeak, _"Can you lay on your back for me?"_

Akamaru barked. _"Sure."_

Kiba sat for a minute, thinking nothing of it. Then, he realized that Michi had spoken Akamaru's language.

"You can speak dog?!"

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah. No big deal."

He spoke in dog to make sure. _"You really can? It's not a fluke or anything, is it?"_

_"Yes, I really can, and no it's not a fluke."_

Michi looked down at Akamaru's stomach and dropped the rag in shock. He had deep scratches all over his stomach. She reached down without looking to pick up the rag and felt Kiba's hand there. Blushing, she pulled her hand back quickly, not seeing that his face was beet-red, too.

Her heart began to pound when he reached for her hand and put the rag into it. Her eyes widened as he kept his hand in hers for an extra second before pulling back. She looked up shyly, not realizing that she was blushing, and saw that he was blushing too. He saw that she was, but not that he was.

"Thanks." She said, in reference to the rag.

"No problem." He said, watching curiously as she wiped Akamaru's wounds clean. She reached for the salve, and then remembered that I had given it to Kiba. "Kiba? Can I borrow the salve?"

"Oh, right. Sure." He reached into his pocket, pulled out the salve, and handed it to her.

She put salve on Akamaru's stomach wounds and then on his thorn-punctured paw and bandaged it up. Kiba hugged Akamaru and turned to her. "Thank you again, Michi. I have no idea what we would have done without you. I owe you."

"Kiba, you owe me nothing. I told you before, I love Akamaru. I'd do whatever I could to help him. Now, let's go get some ramen!"

He smiled. "I can't. I want to, but I don't have any money with her."

"Well, we'll make it my treat then."

"What? I can't...not after what you did for Akamaru!"  
"Come on, Kiba, lighten up! My treat. If you insist, you can pay me back later."

She had absolutely no intention of letting him pay her back.

They went to the Ramen shop and saw that (big surprise) Naruto was there. He grinned, seeing. "So you finally told her!"

Michi gave Naruto a puzzled look. "Told me...what?"

Naruto looked at the frantic motions Kiba was making behind her and her puzzled expression, and said, "Oh, nothing. You'd better order your ramen!"

She raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and ordered. Kiba made an expression of relief before ordering, and Naruto made an apologetic face at Kiba and went back to his ramen.

'Does he really think I'm going to fall for that?' Michi wondered.

'Did she really fall for that?' Kiba wondered.

'Do I want today's special or miso pork after this bowl?' wondered Naruto.

The four of them ate in silence, and then Michi paid and she, Kiba, and Akamaru left. They walked towards the park, went inside, and sat down. Kiba threw a stick for Akamaru, and he and Michi sat in silence until curiosity got the better of her. Serious now, She asked, "What did Naruto mean?"

"Huh?"

"Come on. 'Nothing, you'd better order your ramen!' Did you seriously think I would fall for that?"

"Well, no..."

"So what do you have to tell me?"

"Well...just that...I just...well, I really...I like you a lot!" He blurted, blushing.

She blushed as well, her eyes widening at what she had least expected. "Oh. Well, then, I should probably tell you that I like you a lot too."

He looked down into her eyes. "You...do?"

"Yeah." She murmured, looking down and blushing, then looking shyly up at him.

"I...wow..." He said, distracted.

"What is it?"

"Your eyes...they're...they're practically giving off their own light!"

She blushed even more. "I think that's a complihernt?"

He nodded.

She smiled. "Good." She sat back and accidentally put her hand on his. "Oh, sorry..." She went to take her hand back, but this time, he flipped his hand over and held on to hers.

Michi blushed badly. "Kiba..." She said softly.

He grinned.

Overcome with the strength of her attraction to him, she turned towards him and hugged him tightly. He gave her a big hug back, although he was blushing as well as he smiled down into her eyes affectionately. "I'm glad it was you that found Akamaru, and not Ino."

He silenced her laughter with a kiss.

Well, that's it. Haha yeah...rather long for a oneshot, I know, but hey...Kiba's cute! What can I say? D

Anyway, I hope everyone liked it, and please review! I'll respond if I can lol I'm stuck in the dial-up days...it's like the Dark Ages of the internet. Please, Comcast Era, visit herhouse!

Peace, love, and puppies!

BD333


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